posted at 4:19 pm on May 17, 2012 by Allahpundit

We got a bunch of excited e-mails when this story broke an hour or so ago, my favorite of which was this (in its entirety):

why are you blacking out BRIETBART SCOOP of OBAMA KENYA PAMPHLET ???????

The terrible truth: Ed already had a few posts queued up and my shift hadn’t started yet so not until now could the “blackout” be lifted. I suspect that e-mail is typical, though, of the enthusiasm with which Birthers will greet this news, even though Joel Pollak’s perfectly clear in his piece that he accepts that O was born in Honolulu. Key bit:

[Obama’s then-agent Jay] Acton, who spoke to Breitbart News by telephone, confirmed precise details of the booklet and said that it cost the agency tens of thousands of dollars to produce.

He indicated that while “almost nobody” wrote his or her own biography, the non-athletes in the booklet, whom “the agents deal[t] with on a daily basis,” were “probably” approached to approve the text as presented…

The errant Obama biography in the Acton & Dystel booklet does not contradict the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate. Moreover, several contemporaneous accounts of Obama’s background describe Obama as having been born in Hawaii.

The biography does, however, fit a pattern in which Obama–or the people representing and supporting him–manipulate his public persona.

The point, as Pollak explains, isn’t that the Kenya detail should be taken at face value but rather that it’s another case of Obama, who once famously described himself as a “blank slate” for voters, re-inventing his identity for professional gain. An author born in colonial Kenya sounds more worldly at first blush than one born in Honolulu, just as a law professor who’s 1/32 Cherokee sounds more in tune with the minority experience in America than a white woman from Oklahoma. Beyond that, though, this is a story about the media: I’d bet cash money that some reporter somewhere stumbled upon this booklet in years past and politely suppressed the info rather than do the journalist’s job of asking questions and finding out why the mistake in the booklet was made. The alternative, that the media was so uninterested in O’s background that they never checked his professional listings, is grimly possible, but I’m skeptical. I think this is a case where someone probably heard about the booklet and ignored it in order to play gatekeeper so that the Birthers couldn’t exploit the information. That’s what the press has come to when the subject is Obama’s background. (See also the point-and-sputter reaction online this morning at the unfathomable possibility of a Rev. Wright attack ad.) If you doubt that I’m right, sit back and watch the screeching to which Pollak and the Breitbart crew will now be subjected even though no one’s questioned their findings and they’ve dismissed repeatedly the beliefs of the Birthers who’ll make hay of this. The only “responsible” approach to this info, we’ll be told, is to suppress it.

As icing on the cake, here’s AB himself dismissing the Birthers on Joy Behar’s show last year. Click the image to watch and skip to 4:30. Exit question: Did Obama’s booklet bio really list him as “a financial journalist and editor for Business International Corporation”? I’d like to hear more about that career.

Update (Ed): Also, I have to stop writing at a certain point to prepare for my show. I did see this, but figured AP would have more time and write a more thorough post than I could at that point — and I was right. I did discuss the story on my show, with Kerry Picket of the Washington Times.

Update (Allahpundit): Miriam Goderich, who helped represent Obama at the same literary agency, issued this statement to Political Wire:

“You’re undoubtedly aware of the brouhaha stirred up by Breitbart about the erroneous statement in a client list Acton & Dystel published in 1991 (for circulation within the publishing industry only) that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me — an agency assistant at the time. There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”

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Way back when Obama first began talking about running for President in 2007, I began hearing rumors of him not being a U.S. citizen. At first I ignored it but one day on another site a commenter linked an article from the Chicago Sun dated August 4th or 5th of 2006 about Obama being elected to the Senate. The headline read “Kenyan-born Obama elected to U.S. Senate”. This was front page. So I went in search of the truth. Went to the archives of the Chicago Sun for those dates and there it was, front page. Same headline, picture and article. I just wish I had saved it to my computer. When his birthplace became an issue later, I tried to bring it up from the paper again but it was scrubbed. Wonder if any libraries have copies…..if you live in Chicago or near there you might start searching for old copies that haven’t been destroyed. This article was dead-ass serious, not a joke or photo-shopped.

There is one aspect about the birther issue that I think is missing. Assume, for the moment, that Obama really was born in Kenya. At the time he decided to run, Obama wasn’t considered a pseudo-god by the left. Hillary was expected to be the front runner. At that time, it would have been extremely risky for Obama to run, given his foreign status. Remember, it was Hillary who brought up Obama’s relation with Jeremiah Wright. If Obama really was born in Kenya, Hillary would certainly have brought that issue to the forefront.

Personally, I think Obama lied by stating that he was born in Kenya. You know how lefties go ga-ga over “diversity” just like Warren claimed that she was 1/32 Cherokee. Obama has a Kenyan family history so, being a typical Democrat, he would naturally manipulate his heritage for better appeal.

This cant be right! If Obama really was born in Kenya I would have read about it in some other Presidents biography!

Valkyriepundit on May 17, 2012 at 4:49 PM

From the White House website:
In 1836, Martin Van Buren was the first US president to be born in the United States. In 1961, Barack 0bama was immaculately conceived in three different places, SO THERE!!

Whether it’s true or not, I think it’s the final nail in his political coffin. He’s running around the country talking about gay marriage and passing legislation about prison rapes? Not demeaning either, but are these the most pressing issues facing our country? If you are gay and married and going to jail at least you don’t have to worry about getting raped. To bad you won’t have any food, money, a job or a house to live in.

Right. The two state documents he produced are forgeries and the multiple Hawaii officials who vouched for the authenticity of their files are all lying. It’s a grand conspiracy. That’s a much more persuasive theory than “he and his literary agency fibbed to make his author bio seem more exotic.”

See 18USC, Part 1, Chapter 115, sec.1281 and Articloe 906.106 of the UCMJ.

The Enemy is now inside our Executive Branch, SCOTUS, POTUS, Congress and many Law Enforcement﻿ Agencies like ATF, HS and ICE.

OBAMA & THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.

The Brotherhood’s credo was and is, “God is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.”

The Brotherhood’s English language website describes the “principles of the Muslim Brotherhood” as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic Shari`ah as “the basis controlling the affairs of state and society;”.

And so Obama gives the Muslim Brotherhood positions within his administration. Especially highly classified position in Homeland Securutiy.

Does this sound like aiding & abedding the enemy?

Barack Hussein Obama has crossed the line!, and under Article III, Section 3 of our Constitution is guilty of treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy and attempting to overthrow our government from within.

Now is the time for members of Congress, to finally do your Constitutional duty and hold Barack Hussein Obama accountable for his crimes against America.

Mr. Obama is a fraudulent president who is selling out America.

It’s time Mr. Obama is called accountable for his treasonous actions.

ALSO!!..

1) His alleged biological father, Barack Obama Sr., was not a U.S. Citizen

“Preventing an individual with plural loyalties, whether by biological, political or geographic origins, which may present lawful or perceptable doubt as to his allegiances thereof, other than one with the fullmost sovereignty of advanced citizenry, which is that of one who remains natural-born from conception to election, from assuming the great power of this fragile office, was, without tolerance or vulnerability, the exaction of purpose of our fathers to induce the mandate of presidential eligibility upon our blood-ransomed Constitution…”.

If this usurper isn’t removed? This is the end of the U.S.constitution,Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence!

Back then, in the Acton and Dystel biographical sketch, Barack Obama (Jr.) was the son of a Kenyan finance minister, which would be the equivalent of our Secretary of the Treasury. Is there any record that Barack Obama Sr. was ever Finance Minister of Kenya prior to 1991? Was there any mention of that in “Dreams from my Father”, which was published in 1995?

How many tall tales does Barack Obama Jr. have to spin before nobody believes him?

The further question at hand is did he get in Columbia, Occidental, and Harvard claiming to be an African (foreign student). Even though he was born in Hawaii.

All universities are very big on listing each year the number of foreign students who are enrolled in that university. Was he listed as a foreign student? If government money was used to aid in his tuition because he listed himself as a foreign student, then we as taxpayers, have a right to know if he lied. And if he did lie, he should be made to return the tuition money.

Also, was he listed in the graduation programs of the universities? Usually the graduating students are listed and the state or country they are from. Setting in someone’s attic is an old Occidental graduation program with BOH name in it and maybe his listed home country of Kenya. Come on Brietbart find that program……hahaha

A commenter at Ace’s site claims that during the Keyes/Obama debates in Illinois, Keyes brought up the Obama birthplace issue and Obama deflected, saying it was a non-issue because he was running for U.S. Senate, not U.S. President.

If Obama was born in the U.S. and had never lied about being born in Kenya, why wouldn’t he just say that, instead of making the senator/president distinction?

I didn’t see the Illinois debates, but if the commenter’s recollection is accurate, it certainly seems that Obama has been lying about something.

Deep breath folks. The publisher’s bigraphical information is also promoting Obama’s first book in which writes he was born in Hawaii. What kind of nefarious plot to deceive can this be where he would have to know that he will be contradicting the bio only months later in the book being promoted? Obama Derangement Syndrome.

Just for the record — I’ve ALWAYS been a birther. And I’ve always been pleased to be one, in spite of all the sneering comments and attempts at ridicule. I don’t mind any of that. It’s good to be able to see the clear and abundantly obvious truth no matter how politically incorrect it is.

Bark’s so confused about his lies the book jacket to his memoirs will read:

His white devil mother put him in a basket and went to the river where she let him go. The basket floated down the stream and ended up beside the local ACORN organizer. The baby was taken in and was called Moses because he was taken out from the water, or Barack to those who knew him.

“Some say he (Obama) has taken some literary license in the telling of his story. Dan Armstrong, who worked with Mr. Obama at Business International Corporation in New York in 1984 and has deconstructed Mr. Obama’s account of the job on his blog, analyzethis.net, wrote: “All of Barack’s embellishment serves a larger narrative purpose: to retell the story of the Christ’s temptation. The young, idealistic, would-be community organizer gets a nice suit, joins a consulting house, starts hanging out with investment bankers, and barely escapes moving into the big mansion with the white folks.”

In an interview, Mr. Armstrong added: “There may be some truth to that. But in order to make it a good story, it required a bit of exaggeration.”

It reads like young Baraka was little more than a gopher in an office of gophers. But one is supposed to ‘embellish’ your resume’. Yes?

The impression is of a man who is a compulsive liar about who he is. It strikes me as some sort of identity confusion/insecurity in the extreme. It’s never good enough to be who he is—everything always has to be enhanced so that he’s larger than life.

INC on May 17, 2012 at 4:51 PM

It’s not that at all, INC. He says whatever will advance his position at the time. Everything he said in 2008 turned out to be a crock of sh1t, and he’s already made it clear that he’ll say anything now just to get re-elected so he can exercise his “more flexibility” option.

on the one hand you have the “truthers” who think bush purposely sent two planes into the world trade center killing thousands. on the other, you have “birthers” who think obama wasn’t born in the u.s. and hid this fact in order to become president.

how are these two things equivalent? so a person thinks he was not born in the u.s., does that make a person “crazy”??? while not hard evidence, there is enough circumstantial evident to cause some people to think maybe he wasn’t born in the u.s.

so now you have this come out, and the initial reaction, even amoung conservatives like ed and AP and pollak, is kinda “well, it doesn’t mean anything and it was probably just an oversight…”

as much as libs like to label their foes, none have stopped conservatives from speaking their mind, except for the “birther” label. that seems to stop true conservatives in their tracks.

i’ve read article after article about obama abusing his powers, about his divisive, misleading and false statements during campaign speeches, and we all agree he’s doing that. but did he lie about being born in the u.s.?? oh no, that’s not possible! the unofficial birth certificate he released years late proved it.

i haven’t followed the “birther” story too much to form an opinion, but when i read the article on breitbart, it had me wondering…

This booklet was intentionally planted by President Obama in order to boost his favorability numbers which have fallen behind Romney by 3 pts on Gallup.
Tomorrow we get to see the Press Conference of Donald Trump jumping back into the Presidential race as an independant using the booklet as his reinvigorated platform prop.

Here is another shiny object…who cares now? If we stay focused he is out and all this can be discussed after he is defeated…this will not defeat him, just make the birthers look foolish, and the foolish will be connected to the conservatives and Tea Party.
It is of no consequence now…only the election and defeat of Obama.

One day maybe not in my life time the whole truth will come out about Obama and i think people will be shocked sad and very angry at what was perpetrated on the American people.We can all get mad at the birthers .But something is just not right about Obama.We all know it but some of us are very afraid to go down that path.

Now I really want to see those college transcripts and that missing thesis. Where did he say he was born? It would be pretty funny if he was actually born in Hawaii but spent his twenties telling ivy league schools he was from Kenya.

bitsy on May 17, 2012 at 4:31 PM

D’OH.. I was thinking of application essays. Most of the schools I applied to required a 1 page personal statement. In light of this little bio, it would be interesting to see what he put in those essays.

Obama’s college Rrcords will never be released because they could reveal that Obama received some type of foreign student aid.

I was a foreign student in the US at one point, and received a international student scholarship. It is part of my academic record. And no, you can’t lie about it. In order to apply for the international student aid/scholarship you have to show your foreign passport.

Norwegian on May 17, 2012 at 4:40 PM

Interesting info. Does having a foreign passport disqualify you from being POTUS? I would think so.

What about that trip to Pakistan. Didn’t he need a foreign passport to go there (they wouldn’t let American in)? Has there ever been clarification on this?

Disclaimer: I think Obama was born in Hawaii but intentionally clouds the issue because it is a useful distraction for him.

Right. The two state documents he produced are forgeries and the multiple Hawaii officials who vouched for the authenticity of their files are all lying. It’s a grand conspiracy. That’s a much more persuasive theory than “he and his literary agency fibbed to make his author bio seem more exotic.”

Allahpundit on May 17, 2012 at 4:58 PM

Oh come on AP. You don’t think this is worth one or two questions at the White House briefing?

You’re really not the “shutup because I said so” kinda of guy, are you?

Personally, I think Obama lied by stating that he was born in Kenya. You know how lefties go ga-ga over “diversity” just like Warren claimed that she was 1/32 Cherokee. Obama has a Kenyan family history so, being a typical Democrat, he would naturally manipulate his heritage for better appeal.

Kingfisher on May 17, 2012 at 4:37 PM

I think this, too.

bridgetown on May 17, 2012 at 4:56 PM

I agree. I think he lied to get his book published. Wonder if he lied on his college admissions application? I guess we’ll never know.

There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”

Right. The two state documents he produced are forgeries and the multiple Hawaii officials who vouched for the authenticity of their files are all lying. It’s a grand conspiracy. That’s a much more persuasive theory than “he and his literary agency fibbed to make his author bio seem more exotic.”

Allahpundit on May 17, 2012 at 4:58 PM

That’s not the point, AP. Again, it doesn’t matter where he was born. It matters that there is so much conflicting and/or sealed information. It’s insane to have to elect the leader of the free world by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I have no problem with both being true. He certainly lies to advance his position, and IMO he also seems compulsively driven to do so. IOW even if there was no plausible reason to lie, he would do so because reality is never good enough.

Not to say your theory doesn’t have merit, but to my understanding, most non-residents are ineligible for Federal Student Financial Aid.
I don’t doubt there was some gaming of the system being done, but getting aid was not it – unless things have changed significantly since then.

“You’re undoubtedly aware of the brouhaha stirred up by Breitbart about the erroneous statement in a client list Acton & Dystel published in 1991 (for circulation within the publishing industry only) that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me — an agency assistant at the time. There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”

That’s not the point, AP. Again, it doesn’t matter where he was born. It matters that there is so much conflicting and/or sealed information. It’s insane to have to elect the leader of the free world by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

DanaLynn on May 17, 2012 at 5:06 PM

Corrected:
That’s not the point, AP. Again, it doesn’t matter where he was born. It matters that there is so much conflicting and/or sealed information. It’s insane to elect the leader of the free world by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I’ve worked in the publishing world. This was no fact-checking mistake. And Obama himself would be the first to look it up and bathe in his awesomeness and notice the “mistake.” Like looking at your yearbook photo to see if they spelled your name right.

How many of you ever allowed your biography to be this blatantly wrong?

Schadenfreude on May 17, 2012 at 5:07 PM

If we take the lesson from Elizabeth Warren, the only thing that matters is that you claim to be a minority, preferably someone outside the realm of an American. It adds to your credibility or something.

This has been around for a long time. But most people assumed it was a one-off error.

Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate(AP)

The Rogue Tomato on May 17, 2012 at 4:57 PM

NPR also reported Obama as Kenyan-born but later “corrected” it.

The Rogue Tomato on May 17, 2012 at 4:59 PM

That is astonishing to me! We had legitimate news sites during his Senate campaign running headlines that barack was “Kenyan-born,” headlines that his campaign apparently never saw the need to correct…and birthers are supposed to hang their heads in shame?!! I am a political junkie, I mainline this shit, and I have never, ever seen the AP story linked to above. Never. This guy REALLY wasn’t vetted at all. Not at all. And now it’s all unraveling before our very eyes. Unbelievable. Romney may not want to touch any of this stuff, and I get that, but the genie is really out of the bottle now and there will be no stuffing her back in. This is extraordinary. Never in my lifetime…

I’ve never been accused of being born anywhere other than where I was actually born. Nobody has ever confused it in any way. Nobody has ever printed anything that said I was born anywhere but. So how does this happen for him? It would seem like it’s not something that would be an easy mistake to make. I mean – we all know he spent time in Indonesia. If it said he was born there – that would seem like a likely error. But he never lived in Kenya – so how would a biographer even get the inkling that was the case unless he said it was?

He’s either a pathological liar (which, if he is, the country should be made fully aware of it) or he was actually born in Kenya (which, if he was, we got big trouble in little Nairobi).

Unless someone has 0bama on the record claiming he was “born in Kenya”, and is willing to share that evidence, the White House will be able to dismiss this story as nothing more than a “misunderstanding” of young Barry saying he was “born of a Kenyan father”.

I don’t doubt 0bama claimed he was born in Kenya in order to accentuate his third world liberationist credentials, but if this is all there is the story will be forgotten in a week.

Stick to talking about the failure of 0bama’s “Stimulus” Bill, Solyndra, unemployment, 0bamCare, and the national debt, to name but a few things. That is the path to beating Soetoro.

Now I really want to see those college transcripts and that missing thesis. Where did he say he was born? It would be pretty funny if he was actually born in Hawaii but spent his twenties telling ivy league schools he was from Kenya.

bitsy on May 17, 2012 at 4:31 PM

He said he was a foreign student when he went to Occidental, and perhaps Columbia, to excuse himself from taking a SAT test. Had he been tested it would have become obvious what a dimwit he is, so he had to find a way through the requirements.

Re the BC, what stinks is the line that says ‘Father’. His real father is either Malcolm X or Frank Marshall Davis.

I do not know if this Kenyan birth certificate has been researched, but it could show that the birth in Kenya has a better birth certificate than the one issued by the White House, which Sheriff Joe Arpaio proved was a forgery.

WhatNot on May 17, 2012 at 4:49 PM

Apparently the Picasa account has to be shared, so very few people can see it.

“You’re undoubtedly aware of the brouhaha stirred up by Breitbart about the erroneous statement in a client list Acton & Dystel published in 1991 (for circulation within the publishing industry only) that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me — an agency assistant at the time. There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”

Mistakes concerning a person’s place of birth usually fall along the lines of wrong hospital, wrong small town in X state (Westbury instead of Westville for example), Manhattan and not Queens, wrong street, wrong neighborhood etc.

I was represented by Jane Dystel for a while. She went bonkers over a section in a book proposal of mine, and edited it ruthlessly. Totally shredded it. I would have felt bad but it was entirely quoted (and I stated as much) from a New York Times article. So I don’t know what to make of this; she’s a really good agent/tough cookie. I can’t believe that Jane’d let a mistake like this go by and don’t think Miriam falling on her sword helps.

Jane’s father, Oscar Dystel, created Bantam Books so it’s not like she was ever a newbie to publishing.

This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me — an agency assistant at the time. There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”

I gotta call BS on this. The easiest way to get info on where he was born would be from Dear Liar himself. But The Whine can never do anything wrong, so mere mortals will claim that they themselves screwed up.